Prime minister of Chechnya says polygamy should be legal

Women in the country outnumber men by 10 percent, so it's the perfect solution!

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January 18, 2006 12:45AM (UTC)

We're not sure how we missed this, but thanks to Majikthise for posting a link.

In a radio interview last week, acting Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov of Chechnya said that since the country has lost so many men to war, survivors should be legally allowed to marry more than one woman. Kadyrov claims a move toward polygamy is "necessary" because women outnumber men in the Russian republic by a whopping 10 percent.

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Thankfully, current Russian law forbids citizens to marry more than one person. But Russian parliamentary Deputy Speaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party, has said he plans to introduce an amendment in the spring parliamentary session that would legally allow men to take multiple wives.

We'll keep you posted as this disturbing story unfolds.

Lori Leibovich

Lori Leibovich is a contributing editor at Salon and the former editor of the Life section.